When our sister Alison Hunt finally came off of the breathing tube she had been on for the past week, she was still very groggy and confused, and she said a few wild things. This was to be expected of course. Her battle with Necrotizing Fasciitis meant that she had to go into emergency surgery the day she went to the hospital, where they had to remove a significant amount of the tissue around her neck and shoulder which was already dead due to the flesh-destroying nature of the bacterial infection. Just do a quick google search for Necrotizing Fasciitis to get an idea of just how deadly this infection can be.

Bacteria from her mouth got beneath the surface of the skin on the back of her neck, by simply scratching a cyst there. From there an infection began which spread throughout the back of her neck and onto her right shoulder area, her upper back and upper chest, destroying any living tissue it encountered. This left doctors no choice but to cut away the dead tissue in the affected areas, bombard her with every antibiotic available and hope to win the race against the rapidly spreading bacteria. For the following 4 days she had to go back into surgery so they could remove more dead tissue, all the while no one knowing if she would survive.

But Ali doesn’t give up so easily.

After the fifth day, the combination of debridement (surgical removal of dead tissue), antibiotics and Ali’s own body fighting for its life, the bacterial spread was contained. They kept her intubated until they knew there wouldn’t be a need for further daily surgeries, as it was the only way to give her the heavy-duty pain medication necessary to combat the extraordinary trauma she had undergone. So when she finally was coming off those meds, she kept asking for fish.

“Tell people to send money for fish,” she told us. “They take me downstairs to the operating room and they use fish to eat the bad flesh, but they don’t eat the good flesh. So I need everyone to send money for fish so they can help me heal. They’re only $10 and I need four of them.” Aside from the humorous inclusion of fish references, she actually seemed to understand what was happening to her. In a matter of no time she was back to her old self and sense of humor, and we knew we had our Alison back.

But getting through the dangerous life-threatening phase of the infection was only the first step in what will be a very long road to recovery. And she will need a lot more than four $10 fish to get through.

Five days after she was extubated, she underwent another surgery, this one a skin graft to cover the bare tissue in the affected areas. She is now recovering from that surgery as well, although she has a lot of rehabilitation ahead. Due to the nature and severity of her infection, and the area in which it was located, it will be a long time before she is able to return to her work in the restaurant industry, if indeed she is ever able to. Because of the upper body mobility issues she will have, she will also likely need additional help around the house and with the other daily tasks of life, at least until she is able to recover, which will be quite some time.

Those of you lucky enough to know Alison Hunt know her as a faithful, generous friend, the charismatic life of the party, and a person of fearless determination. She had to use that fierce determination to win the fight of her life against this horrific infection, and now she is in need of faithful, generous friends to help her get back on her feet after this unexpected deadly medical emergency has completely upended her life.

As is the case with many of us, the pandemic year had completely changed Alison’s life and even before this illness, she already had been struggling to make ends meet, having to get food stamps to have enough to eat and selling her plasma twice a week to get by. Now that this disease has stripped away her ability to continue to work as she always has, she is facing a real predicament.

Alison is a fighter, and she has won a hard battle to survive this deadly infection. Now she needs our help to be able to continue that struggle to rebuild her life. Her needs will be many, especially in the next few months. We don’t fully know yet what all of her needs and therefore expenses will be, as so much of it depends on how well her body recovers, but we know some of the things to expect. The fundraising goal is based upon the following expenses: home bills, extra help around the house, legal fees to help her get on Social Security Disability, and of course ongoing medical expenses as she continues to heal, such as the daily wound care she will need for the first few weeks after her discharge.

We ask you to give what you can. Even a simple $10 “Fish” donation makes a difference. And whether or not you are able to give, we ask you to share this story with others and encourage them to do the same.

Together we can help Alison pull through this, and go back to enriching the lives of everyone she meets.